Harvey Francis Daly Van Wyhe was born at 3:11 p.m. on April 22 to Fran Daly and Alex Van Wyhe at Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. Harvey is the couple’s first child and spent his first hours reading “The Little Prince” with dad Alex. Fran’s parents Steve and Alice Daly and sister Maggie visited the newborn, as did Alex’s family, including parents Terry and Tammy Van Wye. Alex is Haines High School’s English teacher. Fran, also a Haines teacher, will be retiring from her job at the elementary school.
Surrounded by a group of family and friends, Kris Wuesthoff and Jessie Adams-Weinert married on March 25 at Bennett Bench Vineyard in Santa Rosa, Calif. Jessie’s parents Alison Adams and Tom Weinert performed “Annie’s Song” on violin and guitar, respectively, for the ceremony. Sixteen guests from as far away as Philadelphia and Arizona included Jessie’s grandmom 98-year-old Mickey Weinert, who flew in from Tucson, and Kris’s sister Maggie Gunderson and infant daughter Sunniva. The celebration included a white chocolate and raspberry cake and bowling after the ceremony. Jessie teaches at Chilkat Valley Preschool and Kris works at Zen Bathworks. Bluegrass musicians Alison and Tom plan to move here in September.
Resident Travis Eckoff has been named the Alaska Department of Transportation’s employee of the year for 2021, including for his response to the unprecedented storm events in Southeast, including Haines, in December 2020. A state press release described the geotechnical engineer as an “outstanding and extraordinary” employee, citing his continual and direct involvement with emergency responders, emergency agencies, clean-up crews and elected officials during the crisis. Travis was the “go-to, boots on the ground technical support and communications link between (DOT) and the community of Haines,” the award announcement said. Eckoff also won a Team Achievement Award specifically for his Haines work. His award included a metalized photo of his choice and a shot of the former “steel bridge” at 26 Mile. Travis previously worked for the ProHNS civil engineering firm.
Matthew Smith of Oakland, Calif. spent five days in Haines last week visiting daughter Corinne Smith. Besides hiking to Battery Point, Matthew picked up trash at Picture Point, attended Earth Day festivities as well as Heavy Equipment Day at the fairgrounds, and stopped by the open house for the new ambulance. He and Corinne drove up to Haines Junction, Y.T., and played “music bingo” at the Mile 1016 Pub. It was Corinne’s first trip the length of Haines Highway. Matthew is a commercial real estate appraiser who works weekends at a horse ranch in San Rafael. Corinne’s mom Linda Boyd stayed home nursing a cold.
Lea Harris said swimming at night with manta rays at Kona was among the highlights of her recent trip to the islands of Hawaii and Oahu with Chuck Mitman, Chuck’s son Justin Mitman, and Justin’s mate Sarah Welker. They also enjoyed a swordfish dinner at Duke’s in Waikiki, visited Pearl Harbor, and saw the Green Sand Beach on the Big Island. They bumped into residents Jack Smith Jr. and Jessica Price on the trip. Justin and Sarah moved to Haines in 2018.
A patron picking up a discarded book at the Haines public library stumbled on a published photo of Ken Ewald that their wife Judy Ewald had never previously seen. The full-page photo on page 62 of the 1976 National Geographic book “Alaska: High Roads to Adventure,” shows Ken in a hard hat, chain-sawing into a giant tree near Sitka. He worked for more than 30 years as a logger in Alaska and Washington state. Ken and Judy met in 1980.
Smokejumper Russell Kennedy has a new gig, assisting the monks at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center near Carmel, Calif. in efforts to protect the monastery there from wildfires that have threatened it several times and devastated surrounding acreage. The 126-acre property is the first Zen monastery built outside Asia and is home to about 30 monks.
Vince and Jansy Hansen recently returned from a three-week visit to Portugal, where highlights included bicycling through farmland, taking in art and historic sites, attending a multi-cultural celebration of the Palm Sunday mass in Lisbon, and touring the offshore islands known as the Azores. They hiked, ate a lot of cheese, and bicycled south of Lisbon for a week on sleepy country roads. “The strawberries went for miles,” Jansy said. Vince’s great-grandfather came from the Azores, which feature geothermal springs, ancient fishing villages, and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. A hotspot for whale and dolphin watching, the islands are frequented by 27 cetacean species.
Sara Chapell and Sally Andersen also made a recent Portugal trip that included a workshop focusing on pattern design and the nation’s artistry.
Jeff Moskowitz penned “Deep Bear Instabilities,” about “low-probability high-consequence events” including the hazard of traveling through bear-den elevations, for the spring 2022 edition of The Avalanche Review, the quarterly publication of the American Avalanche Association. Jeff is a Haines avalanche forecaster and instructor.
Residents are encouraged to help at three marine debris clean-ups next month. Hikes to clean up beaches at Twin Coves and Battery Point will be held on May 4 and May 5, respectively. A charter boat will take volunteers to the Katzehin River delta on May 9. (Charter boat space is limited and a donation is suggested.) Private boats also are welcome to help. Phone Molly Sturdevant at 907-723-7182 or 541-815-1736.
(Do you have news about your family, travels, awards, births, weddings, and other notable happenings? Get it published in the Duly Noted column by phoning the Chilkat Valley News at 907-766-2688 or emailing it to [email protected].)